SUNDAY IN REVIEW 02.08.09

A day late in getting this up, but here's yesterday in review...

• Above 150 for the first time!!! Wow! Today we hit 151 in total attendance. Amazing!

• Love our Guest Services Team. Walked in yesterday with a girl brand new to a2 (she works at our gym). She was met outside by a lady who invited her to sit with her during worship. At the door, Ahntuan Bui was there to provide a great welcome. Great job, guys.

• Lots of new people in yesterday’s service. We didn’t get a load of Connection Cards turned in , but there were a lot of new faces in the crowd.

• Loved yesterday’s worship set. Today Is The Day (Lincoln Brewster), Marvelous Light (Charlie Hall), Where The Love Lasts Forever (Hillsong United), All About Jesus (Steve Fee).

• Our eight year old stands beside me every week during worship. I love hearing her sing her lungs out! I love talking with her about church on the way home. I love it that she loves what God is doing @ a2. Life is GOOD!!!

• After the service yesterday I discovered that phrases like, “…get jiggy with it…” (Yep! I said it...) are outdated… BIG TIME. Someone said I was “old” but gave me props for at least trying in this person’s words to “…get my crunk on.” I’ve had to spend the majority of the day getting over the fact that someone called me “old.” It will probably take prolonged therapy. Please pray.

• Tough message yesterday. I really felt passionate about it. Covered the second half of “the parable of the prodigal God” (Luke 15:25-32). Oh, man… I really believe this was sort of a prophetic word for the church… (Special shout out to John Ortberg excellent message, “Love for the Bitter Heart” for inspiring a great deal of this message…

• Here's THE BIG IDEA we shared yesterday. Over time, there’s a tendency in every returning lost son to either become more and more like the Father or more and more like the older brother… In fact, it’s real difficult for returning lost sons and daughters to not become like the older brother… It just sort of happens!

• Churches are filled with “older brother types.” Can you imagine how different the story of the “lost son” would have read had the returning son met the older brother first instead of the welcoming arms of the Father? That happens all the time! Too often, people can’t meet Jesus because they can’t get around the “older brothers” clogging the church! Ouch! Yeah, tough message, but stinkin’ important.

• One more thought: God runs to returning rebellious sons and daughters, and He always begs and pleads with religious hypocrites. Bottom line: God can't stand the thought of any of His kids being away from "home." But God WILL NOT STOP THE PARTY for anybody!!! He just won't! He won't give the "older brother" that kind of power and He won't apologize for being the kind of God who "welcomes sinners and eats with them" (Luke 15:1-3).

• For some reason we've ran into problems getting the last two messages up on iTunes. We're working on the problem and have made several attempts to correct it. We'll try to get parts 1 & 2 of "Come Home" asap. Thanks for your understanding. We'll keep working.

• I was disappointed with the response to the invitation… I really felt that the altar area would be filled… This will put me on my knees this week… I’m committed to a2 cultivating a culture of repentance... I think it’s crucial to what God wants to accomplish. We will laugh loud and cry hard. We will dance faster and repent more often!

• This coming Sunday? I'm pumped about the service. We’re going to wrap up the current series with a message titled, “There’s No Place Like Home.” I’m believing for lots of people to make a decision for “HOME” this week.

• Great evening last night with a2’s first Student Ministry Worship event! I loved it!

• We had a little more than 60 total people out, and about 32 were in the “student age group” category! Wow.

• Special guest worship leader, Ben Murray from Daystar Church in Cullman and the a2 Worship Band did a great job leading in worship. Killer set that included: Salvation Is Here (Hillsong), We Shine (Steve Fee), Living For You (Gateway Worship), Hosanna (Hillsong).

• The Student Ministry Drama Team did an awesome job painting a picture of what success without significance can look like. Great job girls and guys!

• Darrell Garrett brought a great word from John 10:10. I’ve heard this passage hundreds of times, but Darrell helped me see it through a fresh set of eyes.

• Great time with pizza and ice cream afterwards.

• So much “fire” in the house we set off the fire alarm… No actual fire, but the fire alarm did go crazy at the end of the service…

• I LOVE WHAT GOD IS DOING @ a2. I love it! I believe God has a purpose and plan that would blow us away if we could glimpse it.

• My response? I’m going to work like everything depends on me, and PRAY like everything depends on God! He is our SOURCE!!!

• I love you. I’m praying for you. I believe in you. (Philippians 1:3-7)